Welcome to another episode of CC Indie Spotlight where we demo the latest and greatest of indie gaming.
This episode features Dungeon Dashers, upcoming game from the developer Jigxor still in beta stage for PC. Dungeon Dashers is a dungeon crawling game with turn-based gameplay that will also feature online play when the final version of the game is released. In Dungeon Dashers you get to control four different kinds of heroes (Knight, Mage, Rogue and Archer) on a quest to find and take down an evil wizard. Each of the heroes have their own special abilities that are needed over come some of the puzzles and obstacles that you will encounter within the dungeons, working as a team will be the only way to succeed and conquer some of the very well designed levels within the game.
Today for your viewing pleasure game-play walk through for the first few levels of the game which can be checked out below. More information regarding Dungeon Dashers can be found at their official s website here. Be sure to also check out our written preview for the game as well here.
Ghost in the Shell: Arise is the first of four all-new prequel OVAs that follow a younger Motoko Kusanagi and her future Section 9 colleagues. First released in 1995, Mamoru Oshii and Production I.G.’s Ghost in the Shell made a huge impact in the anime scene. After its sequel, GITS2: Innocence, and the GITS: Stand Alone Complex TV series, the franchise has gained millions of fans worldwide.
The latest work from filmmaker Makoto Shinkai (5cm Per Second, Children Who Chase Lost Voices), The Garden of Words is an emotional, calming and beautifully measured work that examines a chance encounter between two lonely people.
The two films are to be screened as a double bill due to their shorter length, which is an awesome chance to hit two birds with one stone. GITS: Arise and The Garden of Words join Evangelion 3.0, 009 Re:Cyborg and A Letter To Momo to form Madman’s pretty stellar line up this year.
REEL Anime 2013 will screen in selected cinema locations across Australia in October, with venues and sessions to be confirmed closer to the event. For more info visit the official site.
Dungeon Dashers is an up and coming dungeon crawler game from Jigxor. It’s described as a fast-paced turn-based dungeon crawler, which may sound incredibly contradictory, but it is also very true. In this preview we were using an early build of the game (Build 277) so things touched in here may change later in development.
In Dungeon Dashers, players are tasked with navigating and clearing dungeons while controlling a small cast of four characters. Each of these characters have their own strengths and weaknesses which must be accounted for by the player. Players play as a Wizard, an Archer, a Thief and a Warrior/Knight. As you can guess, the Wizard is good at casting magic and dealing tonnes of damage from a distance, the Archer is a good distance fighter but isn’t too good up close, the Thief has high DPS but only does good damage when they’re able to use most of their energy on a single target and the Warrior is a good all around up close fighter capable of quickly closing the distance and taking a hit.
Dungeon Dashers is controlled by the keyboard (at this point in time) and has an intuitive control scheme. Anyone that has played a MOBA in any capacity will recognise the keys used for skills in this game. What’s nice about Dungeon Dashers is that players are able to do many basic things just by running into an object, such as a crate or an enemy unit. By doing this, your currently controlled character will do their basic actions, such as breaking furniture or attacking an enemy. It’s not until you start to use skills where you need to start using the select key to assign actions.
Your standard level in Dungeon Dashers is a bit like a maze, much like your standard Dungeon Crawler type dungeons. When navigating one of these dungeons, players will have to alternate between characters to keep them close by hitting the ENTER key, however, in most levels, there are these teleport tiles that shift the other characters in your team to you.
If a player is outside of combat, they are free to move about as much as they like, however, once they’re in combat, their character is restricted to make a certain number of moves. While playing, you’ll notice that on the bottom right there is a bar that is blue in colour and is numbered. Both moving and doing an action while in combat lowers this bar. Some actions drain this more than others. For example, a fireball will lower it by a significant amount, whilst moving will only lower it by a single point.
One thing that may throw players off initially is the less than modern look of the game. However, it could be argued that this game would simply not work as well if it had a more modern look. It has a gameplay design reminiscent of a bygone era, and arguably more fun, period which is reflected in the more basic, design. In this case, basic is not a bad thing, it’s a part of the Dungeon Dashers experience and Dungeon Dashers is an amazing one.
What’s interesting about Dungeon Dashers is that it comes fully equipped with it’s own level editor for players to use. This allows you to create and share your own Dungeon Dashers levels, adding to the package and increasing replayability and potentially adding to the fun and challenge behind the game.
The first thing that players will notice about the game is its amazing soundtrack. It is really, really, quite awesome. What makes this soundtrack so good, is that it is insanely catchy while also being quite retro with its chiptune basis. The soundtrack really adds this level of greatness to an already great game that only a soundtrack could add. Listening to the games opening theme is like listening to the main Zelda theme for the first time ever. Hopefully Jigxor will release the games soundtrack as an OST. The way it segues in and out while in combat, the tunes that play whilst exploring and even the cutscene music is all great.
Dungeon Dashers is a game that is quite aware that it is a game. Many of the characters will make fourth-wall breaking acknowledgements at certain points, as well as some of the object in the game. Each of the cast members have their own personalities that add to the entertainment of the game. They’re almost caricatures of the classes they each represent, but in a way that is amusing and not groan-worthy.
Overall Dungeon Dashers is a well designed game with the fun factor that many games simply do not come with these days. It’s a light-hearted, challenging and fun game that will surely have you entertained until the end. At the very least, the soundtrack alone warrants a purchase at this point. But you definitely wont be disappointed with the gameplay.
Be sure to check out the games official website. Also be sure to check out hands on video gameplay for Dungeon Dashers here.
Kamikaze Pigs Developer:MostroGames Publisher:Chillingo Platforms:iOS (iPhone and iPad) – Reviewed on iPad Release Date: 18th July 2013 Price: $0.99 – Available Here
Overview War, huh, yeah. What is it good for? Making iOS games. Uh-huh. Join a battalion of swine as they wage war on…other swine. Let chaos reign as you begin and end battles in one fell swoop.
First days can be rough buddy
Story Beginning at the end, we are thrown headfirst into the raging conflict and the final battle of the war. One tap, explosions rage and we are thrown back 300 days. We are then shown the gruelling taining program required for pig soldiers…via a four panel comic. Over the course of 8 minutes, random soldier #1 is given equipment and pushed into battle. The beginning of another Kamikaze Pig.
Gameplay Point and click destruction pretty much sums up the play style of Kamikaze Pigs. Tapping the screen brings up a circle in which things explode. If a pig is unfortunate enough to be damaged, they begin a chain reaction of chaos. The more strategic the original strike, the longer the Rube Goldberg of death will run and more enemies will be caught in the aftermath.
Cast your cash before swine
There is a total of 5 areas shown in the overworld and at the end of each lies a boss. Unlike the regular pork based enemies, these beings are large and immobile. They are still susceptible to a rain of shrapnel though, so destroy away. Also within each area is a secret level, gained by acquiring enough stars. Each level features a star ranking system and better performance garners more stars. Some stars are located within the level themselves, requiring you to damage them in order for them to count to the total. Others stars are linked to the number of remaining enemies, the less that survive, the higher the score. These stars are also connected to the upgrade system. Upgrades are slowly unlocked as stars are collected, with the more powerful ones requiring upwards of 100 stars.
In order to ramp up the damage, upgrades exist to strengthen your troops. Playing through levels nets you money which can be used to buy new powers. These range from target seeking missiles, to poorly calibrated jetpacks. Upgrades are divided into 8 columns, applying to the 6 different types of pigs, the pointer itself and money gain. The more upgrades bought, the more chaotic and arguably easier each level becomes. A special line of one use upgrades are also available in Survival Mode, giving you an advantage over the horde of enemies.
Cry Havoc! And let slip the hogs of war!
Visuals and Audio The game has very clean, simplistic designs with a cartoon-like style. Pigs patrol the sky in pint sized planes and helicopters and walk the ground in military uniforms. The backgrounds are picturesque and their lack of intricacy means that they do not distract from the foreground destruction. Explosions occur in a typically comic book style, complete with visual effects such as “Boom!” and “Snrrt!”. Classic sound effects.
A majority of the soundtrack for the game consists of trumpets. These add a sense of drama, and further humour, to the cartoon combat. Though depending on how well you’re proceeding, this may be contested by the sound of numerous explosions and the gunfire of crashing planes. This theme continues on the victory and surrender screen, where very emotive trumpets convey the result of you battle.
You fought bravely soldiers…
Overall Kamikaze Pigs is a fun game. Though each level generally involves tapping the screen once, it is undeniably entertaining to watch the chaos and destruction you caused. The levels are short enough, a few seconds actually, that replaying them for stars and money isn’t a real chore. Which is good, because the less upgrades you have, the more frustrated you will become. All in all, a quick fire game of explosions, fun and swine.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
R-Type Developer: DotEmu Publisher: DotEmu Platforms: iPhone (reviewed), iPad Release Date: July 18th, 2013 Price: $1.99 – Available Here
Overview
The shoot em up genre is one that has made itself quite at home on mobile devices and it is about damn time the legendary R-Type series made its way aboard the iOS platform. R-Type is notorious for being one of the pioneers of the shoot em up genre and has quite the reputation for its incredible difficulty. In the process of transitioning R-Type to the iOS, I am happy to say that none of what made the original R-Type great has been lost in translation. It is still as challenging, still as addictive and most of all still as fun.
Gameplay
R-Type is a game that really personifies the notion of simple is better. It is a fairly straight forward shoot em up game, with a simple control scheme that takes all of 3 seconds to completely grasp. Moving your finger on the touch screen will move your ship, you automatically shoot and are simply tasked with maneuvering the dangerous outer space battlefield that becomes the backdrop of the action in R-Type.
Some may be concerned that playing the original R-Type is a requirement to play this game, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. R-Type for the iOS is as accessible as these games come. It is easy to learn but difficult to master, the sign of a brilliant game to say the very least.
The difficulty of R-Type is definitely a point of contention however as it may be more of a deterrent to casual gamers looking for simple rewarding fun. This is not a rewarding game, it is a punishing game. The levels are well crafted and grow increasingly difficult the further you progress. In that respect its absolutely faithful to the original game which is renowned for its intense challenge. Needless to say, if a breakneck difficulty is not on your agenda, R-Type may not be your cup of tea. But if you are in the mood for a bit of challenge, look no further than R-Type.
Visuals and Audio
Aesthetically R-Type for the iOS is very faithful the original game. It features 2D sprites and gives off a decidedly old-school feel that will either draw you in or deter you depending upon your persuasion. It is a nice nostalgic trip down memory lane for shoot em up fans of old, and a nice visual experience for those willing to give something old-school a fair go.
The game also features an inspired soundtrack, the likes of which elevate the game to greater heights, showcasing that a brilliant soundtrack adds so much to a gaming experience. R-Type features a soundtrack that will infect your brain and set up camp in your mind’s eye, playing on repeat as it gets stuck in your head. It is an undoubtedly addictive assortment of music.
Overall
If you are looking for a nice retro experience on the iOS, R-Type will give you more than enough of your daily retro intake, mixing casual fun with intense hardcore difficulty unlike any game on the iOS platform. The shoot em up genre is something that you either love it or you hate it, the same can be said about R-Type, it is a game that isn’t for everyone, but it is a damn fine game for those who are into its brand of intense fun. R-Type is a great trip down memory lane for those who remember it and ultimately it is a nice gateway game for those wanting to get into shoot em ups.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Welcome to another episode of CC Indie Spotlight where we demo the latest and greatest of indie gaming.
This episode features Face Noir – is a murder mystery adventure game on PC developed by Italian Indie game developer Mad Orange, and published with localization by Phoenix Online Studios. Face Noir follows the story of a private investigator in 1930’s New York City in a point-and-click adventure. Players will take on the role of ex-cop Jack Del Niro, and find themselves immediately drawn into a world of crime where contacts and persuasion (friendly or not so nice) truly matter.
Today for your viewing pleasure we have game-play walk through for the first chapter of the game which can be checked out below. Face Noir is available now for $19.99 you can purchase the game here. You can also check our our review for Face Noir here.
The Game Kitchen are an indie studio responsible for the point-and-click horror adventure game The Last Door. Released in chapters, the project was Kickstarted back in the tail-end of 2012 and has seen the release of its first two instalments: ‘The Letter’ and ‘Memories’. The following is our interview with the Spain-based team.
So, tell us a little about the history of the studio and how you guys got started in game development.
The Game Kitchen is a small indie studio born in Seville (Spain) in 2009. For some years, the studio focused on developing video games on demand for third parties as Nivel21 Entertainment. Some of those games reached some success; we even got national recognition winning different awards. Some examples of our previous works are: Slalom, El Gambatrón (a facebook app used by a national broadcasting channel to interact with their public), Iredia, and – one of our most award-winning products – Rotor’scope.
We are quite a homogenous group, are all in our early thirties and have lived the golden years of gaming, so we have a mutual understanding when approaching video games. Most of us have an academic background related to video games or IT so having this common background is useful in order to agree with plans and ideas when designing a game. I guess that the popular saying “birds of a feather flock together” could perfectly be applied to us.
How did the idea come about for ‘The Last Door’?
At some point during 2012, we decided to undertake an ideas contest internally, since we wanted to try something different, less business-related and more fulfilling. The very first embryo of “The Last Door”, is a pitch that Enrique – one of the team’s artists – introduced to us as a simple game prototype made with PowerPoint. His concept was based on pursuing the same feelings caused by classic horror books, where you rely heavily on your imagination to depict the scenes and situations.
What were your specific influences in conceptualising the game? Would it be safe to assume that you are also fans of films such as Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’ (with the heavy motif of Crows)?
Well, to be honest there is no specific works which we have been particularly inspired by, but it’s true that the story revolves around cosmic terror or gothic novels from authors such as Lovecraft and Poe, who we love. Our intention was to reproduce that atmosphere of the dark ages, full of light and shadows, uncertainty, obscurantism and mysteries – characteristic factors of that age of change during the second industrial revolution in Great Britain. Regarding the crows, this is actually a nod to Lovecraft, who usually used this literary resource to create a restless ambience. Hitchcock’s ‘The Birds’? might be… conscious or unconscious, since that film left an imprint on our collective imagination and you never know where the ideas come from.
Why did you choose the 8-bit graphic style?
We prefer to describe the game as ‘low-res’ instead of ‘8-bit’ because it doesn’t actually use a limited color palette and, in addition, it mixes hi-res gradients and shades. But yes, we can’t deny that it has a great influence from 8-bit aesthetics. In fact, when we were designing the game, in wanting to replicate that role of building the scene using imagination (as creepy as your brain is capable) we tested the low-res graphics and we realized that it worked. The lack of graphic details stimulated the imagination in a special and different way as opposed to when using very detailed graphics, so we decided to take that path.
Is horror a genre that you would like to continue to explore?
As mentioned above, we are fans of horror literature authors and their literary universes seem to be the leifmotiv narrative of the game, since its very conception. So consequently, we feel quite comfortable with the horror genre. We love it and it plays a big part when developing a story that attempts to leave no one indifferent. We really enjoy when our community members send us a message through social media saying things like: “Dusk is coming, time to start playing The Last Door” or “I couldn’t get any sleep last night after playing The Last Door… love this feeling”, “A crow just knocked on my window and I almost had a heart attack” and many more. It’s amazing. A lot of people like getting scared and we are happy to help! 🙂
What was the process like of getting the game Kickstarted?
It was the first time we were crowdfunding a project and everything was new and vibrating, but it’s also very time-consuming and stressing. Since Kickstarter has a fixed period to reach the funding objective (a month), when we decided to start running the project in December 2012, we also started a race against time to set a good communication flow with the community, creating as much content as possible as the backers want to have a deep knowledge about the project they are going to support (common sense). Videos, social media, a functional website, art, team introductions, PR activities, etc. All the ideas were welcome to explain the game and to tease and convince potential backers. So, after a month of madness and frenzy, 285 backers supported the pilot chapter of our ‘The Last Door’ and this adventure took its first step.
Where does the €10,000 budget go into for each chapter’s development?
We think it’s quite a modest budget taking into account that to develop a chapter we spend about 2-3 months and within the team we have four full-time resources: three programmers (Dani, Javi and Mauri) and one artist (Enrique) and on the top of that, three more part-time resources: our music composer (Carlos Viola) another artist (Mateo) and a person in charge of PR and community management (Raul). And obviously, we have many other fixed costs so it’s a matter of doing the maths; we don’t intend to make money with the game, but we’d love to live off of it. That would be a dream come true.
You guys have actively encouraged interaction and feedback from your donators and fans. How has that experience been, and what are the advantages of such a relationship with the gamers? Have they given great ideas that make you go ‘why didn’t we think of that?!’
Since the beginning we were clear about wanting to develop a staunch community. We believe in collaboration as a way of creation and we are making progress in that direction. In the last chapter, for instance, we organized a kind of contest where our community members had the chance to suggest descriptions for many objects we left intentionally undescribed within the game. The “Leave your Mark” initiative was highly successful and we are thinking about new actions to interact with our fans and make them participant in the success of the project. Following that direction, we are currently developing community translations support so the game can be localized into any language with the help of our community.
Indeed, a project like ours wouldn’t be feasible without the help of our community. They are highly helpful in finding and reporting bugs, suggestion improvements, etc. Everyday we find new posts on our website with heaps of comments, ideas and so on. All these inputs really help in the creative design and fine-tuning of the game, not to the extent of changing our original ideas, but supplementing and improving them. For instance, a couple of days ago we had a Scottish guy who recommended us some inspiring locations in his homeland for the setting of Chapter 3. Amazing.
How many chapters do you see yourself making if funding permitted it? Right now, Chapter 3 has been confirmed, but could this be a further on-going series?
The Last Door is designed to be a web series and, as such, it hasn’t got a predetermined number of chapters. As long as the community continue supporting us, and provided that the series makes sense from the point of view of the story, we will keep on producing episodes. If the project stretches on, we could even divide the game in different seasons, as the TV series do.
Is the browser-based flash model a direct result of limited funding, and do you have a different release format in mind? If so, when can we hope to see a standalone release?
Undoubtedly the choice of the model was an intricate and strategic decision. The limited funding forced us to shape the game into an episodic format, to lower the amount of money required to kickstart the development to a minimum. Iterating upon this concept, we finally gave the project the format of a web series, where new chapters would not only bring the story forward, but also add new gameplay features. And once viewed from this angle, we really liked what we had in our hands. Regarding the standalone release, we are seriously considering this option since there are quite a few people who have asked us about this, perhaps as an extra reward for our backers. We have to think it over but it’s certainly on our “to do list”.
And finally, do you have anything you’d like to say to potential consumers; maybe a final pitch? (I really enjoyed the game being a fan of the different genres involved and hope to see bigger and better things from you guys in the future.)
A final pitch? Hmm, we can only guarantee our future players that they’ll love the game if they are enticed into feeling jumping frights, experiencing fear, resolving puzzles or unfolding a great and mysterious story. Not exclusive for “low resolution-pixel level” imaginative and adventurous minds, but a real gem for those who love classic adventure games.
Thanks for reading and please support these guys if the game is of any interest to you…the future of its continued development depends on the donations of its great fans. Visit the above link for all important information.
With Disney Infinity’s launch only a few weeks away, Disney have been steadily releasing promotional videos for the game. Most of these videos have been focused on the highly anticipated Toy Box Mode, but today they have taken a step back and showcased one of the many Play Sets in the game.
Aside from the game’s Toy Box Mode, the Play Sets are the next biggest component of Disney Infinity and allow you to play through stories featuring your favourite characters and worlds. By putting a Play Set Piece on the Disney Infinity Base, a brand new world is unlocked for you, and a brand new adventure awaits.
The latest video from Disney showcases one of these Play Sets; The Incredibles. The Incredibles (along with Mr. Incredible himself) is one of three Play Sets that will be coming packed in with all copies of Disney Infinity, so you will be able to save Metroville from the diabolical Syndrome right out of the box.
The video, which you can check out below shows the Play Set in action, as well as how the other Incredibles characters (sold separately) all operate in the scope of it all. Lastly, the video shows off some of the Metroville and Incredibles-themed pieces in the Toy Box.
Disney Infinity launches in stores across the US on August 18th, and in Australia on the 22nd, so be sure to pick up. Remember that for all the Disney Infinity news as it becomes available, stay tuned to Capsule Computers
Overview
Mad Orange has been hiding in the Italy based developer market and has started their franchise with the launch of a point-and-click adventure called Face Noir. By collaborating with developer and publisher Phoenix Online Studios, Mad Orange has localized the title’s content to broaden their potential marketing nearly a year after its German debut. While Face Noir II is currently in the works, Mad Orange is pleased to reach out to newer players of their first indie title.
Story
If sarcasm and pessimism had a child, that would be our private detective Jack del Niro’s demeanor throughout the story. I doubt it is all his fault for the way he acts since he was wrongly accused of a crime, kicked off the police force, and then locked-up for it. And to put the icing on top of the cake, the time period occurs during The Great Depression. I suppose Jack has good reason to be a wise-ass.
Progressing from one puzzle to the next, I began to think that there was a light at the end of the tunnel with a clear “bad guy”. Well, I am going to point out right away that I could not have been been more wrong. A crime invested organization known as the “Black Lily” has been growing immensely on the west coast and reached its hands out towards New York. During Jack’s time being a cop, Black Lily had developed an entity in the area controlling not only businessmen but also the same police force he worked for. Unbeknownst to Jack, his partner Sean had seen involvement in the organization and took the fall for some of its members’ undoings. Unfortunately, this is how our private detective saw jail time – being indirectly involved with a crook.
Finding out about the betrayal years later isn’t the only thing that stinks. A police captain pushes limits and accusations about Jack’s involvement in Sean’s murder. It sure smells like a cover up. But when it is all said and done, the finger you want to point to place the blame has no owner. The only finger that remains pointing is at yourself and your own ‘destiny’.
Gameplay
Face Noir follows the typical point-and-click adventure gameplay where players identify objects in a scene by interacting with them in multiple forms. This can encompass looking, confiscating, or even altering an object. While all three forms are crucial to completing the game, a detective should allows be on the lookout for new information (looking) and for new items to collect (confiscating). By utilizing the previous forms of interaction, the final form of altering can be accomplished by creating a new item from multiple objects within the inventory, adjusting environmental objects, or combining an item with an environmental object. One such instance includes the use of a shot glass to hear the correct combination of a safe.
While the development team claims non-linear gameplay with the title jumping to and from flashbacks, Face Noir is highly structured towards the storyline and does not allow a player to deter from this path. Such aspect is great when considering the effectiveness and ambition towards the story but provides less of an unique opportunity to be felt by players. As far as the re-playability factor, the nature of the game prevents any replay value as you will need to go through it with a fine tooth comb in order to complete. Not all tidbits are necessary to discover (posters, benches, fire hydrants), and these extras will not have retaining value for the story.
Plenty of puzzles are scattered throughout the game that can be explained better as ‘mini-games’. One such mini-game prompts you to create a doll in effort to calm a little girl. By correctly organizing/rotating doll parts within a crate, you will be able to place the parts together with an item and be able to give it to the girl. I found out quickly that by not having the parts rotated correctly – yet be in the correct placement – the doll could not be formed. Another instance offers the player to decode a cipher to reveal information behind the Black Lily organization. By adjusting alphabet letters around, the similarities across the document become apparent.
Visuals
When discussing Face Noir’s visuals, there are a few considerations that might blow your mind. In essence the entire game was created by two people: Gabriele Papalini and Marco Sgolmin. Gabriele was the lead designer concerning story, design, graphics, and animations. With that being said the character models appear to have more of a rough edging placed against continuously well-crafted backdrops. To better grasp the visuals, Face Noir presents itself with 2.5D visuals giving a top-down perspective on the characters. When the game camera is close up to the models the edge distortion becomes worse, yet when a larger map is present the distortion is nearly invisible.
An inclusion of a 3D inventory was a nice touch, but I felt that the classic 2D inventory better suited in efficiency and purpose. While visually seeing Jack hold up each item could give the player a better look at the object’s purpose, the ease of using the 2D inventory heavily outweighs its counterparts cosmetic value. By placing the cursor at the top of the screen, players can choose to look or use each individual item without scrolling 3D imagery or going to an alternate screen. For those that require additional help, the 2D inventory also offers a hint button that provides a layout to all interactive objects on the given screen.
Audio
I have come to notice that Jack del Niro’s voice actor sounds remarkably similar to David Hayter who voiced Solid Snake in the Metal Gear series. When looking at both character profiles, they have a lot in common: recon missions, organizational deception, love interest kidnapped, and more deception. No wonder why these guys seem grumpy all the time! None-the-less the persona delivered by Jack’s voice actor provides both humor and a ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude.
Other characters like the disgruntled Chinese taxi driver – Chon Jia Shi Yuan – are suppose to offer a small bit of comic relief to the story. And I am pretty sure they purposefully wrote the subtitles to include the Chinese to English accent. Here’s an example: “… I alweady told you I on bweak.”
On a similar note of voice acting, the voice to visual animations are noticeably off. It could be entirely possible that the animations were to reflect the original language, but if the localization process also changed the inflections – it could have looked better. The English version allows for the language to be changed; however, only the subtitles change and the normal voices remain.
Overall
Face Noir is able to deliver on several fronts. Mad Orange was dedicated in providing an unique story while continually driving plot twists to further intrigue the player. Also in their effort they illustrated beautiful scenery to allow an appreciating experience while investigating objects. Last but not least, a small group of people gathered together to make this indie title with limited resources. However, the game does lack in areas like replay value, voice to visual animations, and sleek character models. Of all of the lacking items, replay value ranks as the most important for the development team to consider in future installments. By allowing different choices to be made, a new outcome could result and create variety each time the game is played.
For the asking price of $19.99, I personally believe that better deals are to be had. The gaming market can be unforgiving when it comes to indie games, and I can foresee that being the case with Face Noir. Too many games are becoming free-to-play or have rapidly reduced prices for Face Noir to act as a competitor. However, I would definitely advise gamers to keep this title in their scope as discounts will make this point-and-click adventure a good buy.
Capsule Computers review guidelines can be found here.
Madman has a few new releases this month that might just interest you. On the anime side you have the likes of From Up On Poppy Hill by Studio Ghibli to the long-awaited Code Geass OVA, and on the real “3D” front there’s a comical take on the sport of cricket, something for cat and dog lovers and heaps more!
Anime
From Up On Poppy Hill – Set in Yokohama, From Up On Poppy Hill is a high school love story that take place in the year before the 1964 Tokyo Summer Olympics. As the country begins to pick itself up from the devastation of the Second World War, the new generation struggles to move towards a prosperous future whilst trying not to lose the essence of their past.
Code Geass: Akito The Exiled – The Wyvern Arrives – A brand new side story with all-new characters in the fan favourite, best-selling world of Code Geass.
Kenichi – The Mightiest Disciple Complete Collection – Can this weak-kneed boy become the greatest fighter alive?
Nabari Complete Collection – The ninja world is at war. Whatever.
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic (Season 2, Volume 2) – Parties & Pets – Six of the coolest ponies in Equestria learn all about friendship in this cult favourite.
The Amazing World of Gumball – Gumball navigates through life in Cartoon Network’s multi award-winning series.
The Imposter
Film & TV
Save Your Legs! – A comic cricket odyssey from the suburbs to the subcontinent.
The Imposter – The greatest mystery in the disappearance of Nicholas Barclay began the day he got home…
Barbara – A chilling drama and winner of the 2012 Silver Bear for Best Director.
Upside Down – Kirsten Dunst and Jim Sturgess star in this visually spectacular sci-fi story of star-crossed lovers.
Doomsday Book – An apocalyptic anthology from the directors of THE LAST STAND and HANSEL & GRETEL.
Who Do You Think You Are? – Series 5 – Australian celebrities play detective as they go in search of their family history.
Don’t Forget To Write – The Complete Collection – Much sought-after BBC comedy about the perils of writing – starring George Cole (MINDER).
Marriage Lines – Richard Briers (THE GOOD LIFE) and Prunella Scales (FAWLTY TOWERS) explore the perils and pitfalls of love and marriage.
National Geographic: The Science of Cats & Dogs – The truth about cats and dogs.
Skins Series 6 – The third-generation SKINS gang returns in style!
The Game Kitchen are an indie studio responsible for the point-and-click horror adventure game The Last Door. Released in chapters, the project was Kickstarted back in the tail-end of 2012 and has seen the release of its first two instalments:
